Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have struggled mightily so far in the 2023-24 NBA season, to say the very least. Atlanta currently sits in tenth place in the conference, and although Young has played some of the best basketball of his career as of late, that hasn't stopped the Hawks from freefalling to a disappointing record of 17-23 just under halfway through the campaign.

All of the frustration has led to rampant speculation on some of Atlanta's core players, including shooting guard Dejounte Murray–acquired from the San Antonio Spurs prior to the 2022-23 season–as well as, in some cases, Young himself, although those are mostly rumors at this point in time. A recent report from ESPN's Zach Lowe more or less confirmed the unfounded nature of the Young trade rumors, noting that “flipping Young is unpalatable” for the Hawks.

While they most likely be trading their best player, at least not anytime soon, it would in theory make sense for the Hawks brass to at least look into moving Dejounte Murray, who has been unable to establish much if any synergy with Young so far in his Atlanta tenure despite continuing to put up solid statistics.

A large part of the frustration for Atlanta has been Murray's defensive regression, an area of the floor the Hawks were hoping would greatly improve when they acquired him last offseason. The Hawks will next take the floor, without Young in the lineup due to illness, on Friday evening against the Miami Heat on the road.